Driver faces three charges after car jumps barrier

'Extremely fortunate there were no further injuries'

A 24-year-old Mt. Currie woman has been charged with impaired driving and leaving the scene of a Friday afternoon accident after her southbound vehicle plowed through a sign on Highway 99, skipped over a barrier just south of Whistler Village and hit another post before finally coming to a stop just short of the busy Valley Trail.

The female driver and one passenger fled the scene of the crash, which occurred at approximately 4:20 p.m. April 30 near Panorama Ridge. But with the help of bystanders she was soon located by police and arrested.

A second passenger was treated on site by emergency health services before he was released.

The first passenger has since been identified. His involvement in the accident is under investigation.

The driver provided two samples that registered four times the legal limit of 0.08 per cent blood alcohol content, or in the neighbourhood of .320.

She has been charged with Impaired Driving Causing Bodily Harm, driving with over 80 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood and causing bodily harm and for railing to remain at the scene of an accident. She will appear in provincial court on North Vancouver on May 12.

"It is extremely fortunate that there were no further injuries as a result of this vehicle leaving the road and the subsequent collision," said Sergeant Shawn LeMay of the Whistler RCMP. "It is very worrisome when you consider that a pedestrian, cyclist or another vehicle may have been in the path of this car."

Using the additional Olympic lane emergency crews managed to keep the highway open during the accident, although there was a short delay for southbound drivers as the car was towed from the accident site.